• 
• 

Kevin Garnett had 22 points with 11 rebounds, and the visiting Boston Celtics dominated the second half to snap the Rockets' 22-game winning streak, 94-74, on Tuesday night.

 "The Rockets have been playing some unbelievable basketball - 22 wins in any major sport is hard to do - but we've been on a streak of our own," Garnett said referring to the Celtics' 13th win in the last 14 games. "Our defence started our streak and it was no different tonight."

   Houston has the NBA's second longest streak in league history behind the all-time mark of 33 set by the 1971-72 LA Lakers.

 However, the Celtics tightened their league-best defence and outscored the host Rockets 54-34 in the second half to hand the Western Conference leaders their first loss since January 27.

 "Someone had to do it eventually and we just happened to be in the spot to do it," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "The game helped us, too, because of the streak it got our guys up for it. They wanted to do it and I'm very proud of it."

   Backup Leon Powe scored 21 points, and Paul Pierce had 20 for league-best Boston (54-13), which without All-Star guard Ray Allen (sore left ankle) has beaten San Antonio and Houston in the first two stops of its tough Texas Triangle before travelling to Dallas on Thursday night.

 Argentine rookie Luis Scola tallied 15 points, while Rafer Alston and Mike Harris had 12 apiece for the Rockets (46-21) whose 15-game winning streak was snapped at the Toyota Centre.

 "All good things must come to an end," said Rockets leader Tracy McGrady, who was held to eight points on 4-of-11 from the field.

 "It's not disappointing, they're a hell of a team over there. They outplayed us. I've never seen defence like that. If they play defence like that night in and night out, then the NBA is in trouble because that was defence at its finest."

   Playing before 18,525 - the largest crowd in Rockets' history - the conference leaders were knotted at 40-apiece at half-time. But the Celtics clamped down defensively and outscored their hosts 32-16 in the third quarter.

 Garnett opened the period with a jumper and Pierce buried a three- pointer to trigger an 18-5 run. Rajon Rondo had three baskets and Kendrick Perkins added two more as the gap grew to 58-45 with six minutes left.

 The Celtics carried a 72-56 advantage into the final frame and when Garnett made two vicious dunks to cap a 19-8 surge, the lead swelled to 91-64, sealing the lopsided victory.

 "We didn't fight out there in the second half," Alston said. "They had all the fight. They hustled, they had the will and they wanted it more in the second half and it showed."

   Elsewhere:

   LA Lakers 102, Dallas Mavericks 100

   Kobe Bryant scored 29 points, Vladimir Radmanovic had 21 and the visiting Lakers avoided a late collapse to move into a tie with the Rockets atop the Western Conference.

 Ahead by 25 in the third quarter, the Lakers' lead was cut to 101- 100 with 4.8 seconds left.

 Derek Fisher split a pair of free throws, giving the Mavericks a shot at the win. But Dirk Nowitzki bobbled the inbounds pass, causing the league's reigning MVP to miss badly on a desperation three- pointer at the buzzer.

 Nowitzki had 35 points and 11 rebounds for the Mavericks (44-24) whose five-game winning streak ended.

 Phoenix Suns 111, Portland Trail Blazers 98

   Amare Stoudemire scored 25 points, Shaquille O'Neal had 16 points with 14 rebounds, carrying the visiting Suns to their fifth straight victory.

 LaMarcus Aldridge topped the Trail Blazers (35-33) with 31 points.

 Detroit Pistons 136, Denver Nuggets 120

   Richard Hamilton had 24 points, Rasheed Wallace added 21, and the defensive-minded Pistons ran to their highest scoring game in more than eight seasons.

 Carmelo Anthony had 27 points, while Allen Iverson added 24 with 11 assists for visiting Denver (40-27) coming off a league-season high 168-116 spanking of Seattle on Sunday night.

 Chicago Bulls 112, New Jersey Nets 96

   Luol Deng scored 20 points, Drew Gooden had 19 points with 11 rebounds, and the host Bulls built a 24-point half-time advantage to snap a modest two-game slide.

 Vince Carter had 22 points, Richard Jefferson added 21 for the Nets (28-39), who lost starting point guard Devin Harris (right ankle sprain) late in the second quarter.

 Sacramento Kings 122, Golden State Warriors 105

   Kevin Martin scored 34 points, Ron Artest added 26 and the Kings built a 23-point cushion to run past the visiting Warriors for their fourth win in the last five games.

 Baron Davis paced the Warriors (41-25) with 24 points.

 Miami Heat 112, Milwaukee Bucks 106

   Jason Williams collected 21 points with 10 assists while Chris Quinn scored 11 of his 17 points in the final quarter, helping the league worst Heat end an eight- game slide.

 Michael Redd scored 27 points while Mo Williams added 26 with 11 assists for host Milwaukee (23-44) losers of six in a row.

By Paul Levine, dpa